7 Programming Apps For Children

These days, we are quite aware of the fact that a career in programming is pretty enticing and gratifying. In fact, coding has already become a part of the basic literacy. There are several apps available on the Play Store/iTunes that are quite suitable for children who want to get themselves acquainted with the wonders of programming. We have listed a few of them here for your reference.

Lightbot Jr: Coding Puzzles (Ages 4 to 8)

In this game, players will be able to gain practical knowledge of basic programming instructions such as how to write instructions, how to debug programs etc. They’ll also be able to know about concepts like loops and procedures by guiding a virtual game bot to a solution with particular commands.

Scratch Jr (Ages 5 to 7)

This app is considerably one of the best out there that’s tailor-made for kids or beginners who want to get into the wonders of programs. The best thing about this app is that kids will not even know that they are actually learning computer programming while they are having fun at the same time. Players will have to assemble visual blocks according to logic to get the required result. The app has a simple yet colorful interface that looks pretty enticing to beginners and kids.

Daisy The Dinosaur (Ages 5 to 8)

This app is free of cost and it teaches the very basics of coding to children. Based on a drag and drop type interface, this app is pretty simple but nonetheless very effective for beginners who want to get themselves acclimatized to the world of programming. The game avatar, as you’ve guessed it by now is a cute little dinosaur named Daisy. The players will have to make Daisy perform various tasks according to instructions.

Codeable Crafts (Ages 6 to 8)

This app is one that’s based partly on the gameplay of ScratchJr. The players will have to design their own stories through drawing and programming. Initially, the players will have to design a character who should be the main protagonist of the story. The character can be created from a template or from a drawing done by the players themselves.

Kodable (Ages 6 to 8)

Kodable is based on a story having a fictitious plot. To be more specific we can say that the plot is basically a form of a science fiction. A team of furry aliens who were on a space exploration had got their spaceship crashed on a planet having lots and lots of mazes. The objective of the player is simple. They’ll have to design a code in such a way that the aliens go through all the mazes and reach their destination.

Lightbot: Programming Puzzles (Ages 8+)

This is basically a game of puzzle. Lightbot utilizes different game mechanics having a firm root in coding. Players will be able to learn about several concepts like conditional loops, control-flow concepts etc. The most significant thing about that is that students will be able to gain a practical knowledge of the programming concepts highlighted above that will be pretty beneficial for them in the long run.

Move the Turtle (Ages 9 to 11)

The game avatar is a cute little turtle. The character is so adorable that it should capture the attention of kids automatically and would also encourage them to keep playing again and again. The main objective of the players is to move the turtle around the screen by following a set of instructions. Those are provided on the app itself. A detailed review of the app can be found here.

Sudipto Das

Sudipto writes technical and educational content periodically for wizert.com and backs it up with extensive research and relevant examples. He's an avid reader and a tech enthusiast at the same time with a little bit of “Arsenal Football Club” thrown in as well. He's got a B.Tech in Electronics and Instrumentation.
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